Colleagues pay tribute to late Judge Demis

Saturday

Dec 28, 2013 at 9:52 PM

George Demis, a former Tuscarawas County attorney, prosecutor and probate and juvenile court judge, is being remembered for his intensity, kindness and impact upon countless lives. Demis, 85, of Bolivar, died Friday.

Lee Morrison TimesReporter.com staff writer @lmorrisonTR

George Demis, a former Tuscarawas County attorney, prosecutor and probate and juvenile court judge, is being remembered for his intensity, kindness and impact upon countless lives.

Demis, 85, of Bolivar, died Friday.

Chief Deputy Sheriff Orvis Campbell said Demis was "just a fighter, a true community leader, and a champion of everything that's good about Tuscarawas County.

"He cared about and loved his employees and people in general. He was a powerful force in my life, and provided some of the most important mentoring in my life."

Just two weeks after Campbell graduated from high school, he was working at Klar's sporting goods store in Dover when Demis went there and introduced himself.

"He asked me a few things, then said he'd heard about me and wanted to hire a juvenile probation officer who would be closer in age to the teens being supervised because he thought I'd be better able to relate to them," Campbell said. "It all happened very quickly."

Campbell recalled that he was going to go on vacation with his father to see his namesake uncle Orvis, but the family's car had been in an accident. He intended to delay the vacation, only to have Demis and his wife, Bessie, stop by "with their spare car. He said to go on the vacation or he'd fire me – which he certainly didn't mean seriously. We went and it was the last time before Uncle Orvis passed away. Their generosity meant so much to my family."

Campbell worked as a juvenile probation officer from age 18 to 21, then started his career with the Sheriff's Department.

Former Tuscarawas County Sheriff Harold McKimmie worked with Demis while he was county prosecutor, and McKimmie was post commander at the New Philadelphia Post of the Ohio Highway Patrol from 1967 to 1982. Demis, a fellow Democrat, was county prosecutor from 1967 to 1973.

"George was a hard worker and dedicated to his job, and that carried over into his judgeship," McKimmie said. "He was a no-nonsense guy, but he was always fair with people. He hated to lose any case."

Demis' expertise at trial became evident in 1969, when he defeated nationally famous attorney F. Lee Bailey.

"I don't know how the local man got connected with F. Lee Bailey," Demis said in a December 1995 interview with The Times-Reporter announcing his retirement at the end of his term in February 1997. "Bailey told me afterward they thought frankly, as soon as he came into the picture, I would dismiss the case."

The reaction was just the opposite. Demis recalled thinking, "I'm going to try it — even if I lose, I'm not going to be too criticized."

The local man was found guilty, but the case was reversed by the Court of Appeals. Demis didn't retry the case because an elderly witness couldn't testify again.

Bailey called Demis during the judge's retirement party. The phone call was put on speaker, to the delight of the crowd as Bailey congratulated him on his retirement and complimented him about their case. Demis was so surprised by the call, that he whispered to a person after hanging up, "who was that really?"

During The T-R interview, Demis said there aren't a lot of highlights to his years as an attorney, prosecutor and judge — "just a hell of a lot of hard work." But then, his talk softens when asked the most fulfilling aspect of his career.

"It happens almost daily – when someone who's been in court reintroduces themself and says, 'You straightened out my life,' or my kid's life and they're forever thankful for what you did," Demis said. "The rewards come late, you know, because many times you get to thinking that you're a failure in about every case you handle. But, you find out afterwards that, because of the numbers, you do help a lot of kids."

Demis graduated in 1946 from Uhrichsville High School, and in 1950 from Muskingum College. After graduating in 1956 from William McKinley Law School, he practiced law in Uhrichsville from 1956 to 1972.

His professional activities included serving as president of the National College of Probate Judges.

After retiring, he continued to be assigned to cases as a visiting judge in Northeast Ohio for many years. He also spent quite a bit of time on area golf courses.

He was the one who suggested that Kate, who was a magistrate for Demis from 1990 to 1996, seek the judgeship.

"He was such an honest, hardworking judge," Kate said. "Family was important to him, and Bessie was incredibly supportive and he cherished and respected her. No doubt that helped make him a wonderful family court judge, too."

Among his survivors are Bessie, whom he married in 1948, and their daughters Diane Changas, Georgiane Condo and Elaine Donohoe.

Services will be held at 11 a.m. Monday in St. George Greek Orthodox Church in Massillon. Calling hours are from 4 to 8 p.m. today in Geib Funeral Center in Dover. Lebold-Smith Funeral Home in Bolivar is handling the arrangements.

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